Book 1, Chapter 1: The First Day

[Alen]

Alen woke up with a start, stunned at the scene that surrounded him. Instead of his small room, his desk and his bookshelf, dead trees and cracked earth expanded out as far as he could see, the horizon obstructed by the sheer amount of withered trees and shrubs. What looked like a once-majestic forest was now reduced to a shell of what it once was, a brutal reminder that nothing beautiful stayed that way forever.

He blinked a few times, getting the sleepiness out of his dark brown eyes as he touched the earth below. “What the fuck…?” The soil was dry and as he picked a sample up, it was blown away by a slight breeze that smelled of something strangely sweet, putridly so.

Where… was he? He stood up and looked at the gray sky, feeling an uncontrollable shiver roll up his spine. He stood there for a long time, stunned. Alen frowned, his hands shaking at his eerily quiet surroundings. Seeing that nothing was going to happen just standing still, he forced his legs to move himself forward, into a portion of the forest that wasn’t completely shrouded in darkness. He cautiously moved forward, but the silence caused his slow footsteps to sound as if he was stomping about, the beating of his heart thundering in his ears. The disgusting smell with a trace of sweetness seemed to follow him wherever he went, causing him to cough in an attempt to hold back his reflex to gag.

Alen looked up at the sky, his surroundings weren’t dark in the same way night was. Everything seemed to be coated in an oppressive gray, as the dark clouds above obstructed the sun like a sheet.

“Anyone there?” He looked around warily. “This isn’t a kidnapping attempt right? No weird uncle hoping to turn this into a rape scenario?”

He laughed nervously at his own jokes. A sort of defense-mechanism he’d developed over the years to ward off negative emotions. A damn good one, in his opinion. It was just being especially fucking useless this time around. “I still need to finish my projects. I probably fell asleep while doing them,” He muttered. “I don’t have time for this kind of crap. It’d be great if I woke the fuck up and actually did something with my life.”

Alen had to admit, for a dream, this was awfully realistic. The sights, the smell, the sounds, everything was almost clearer than what he felt when he was actually awake.

As for the thought that this wasn’t a dream? Alen decided that thought could fuck off somewhere else. This was definitely a dream. Maybe a revelation from Buddha or something about how fucked he was in general. He stared at the plants surrounding him, not all of them were withered completely. Some still had leaves that were colored green, and the occasional shrub would display what looked like a dates, but with a blue tint and circular shape. Though he suspected the wrinkles were due to the lack of, well, anything good enough to support life, really.

The sounds of rustling disturbed his thoughts, the sound of movement a welcome change to the crushing silence. Alen’s face lit up as he moved towards the sound with a light jog, afraid that whoever made that sound would get away.

Alen stepped out of the shrubbery with a smile that quickly morphed into a look of terror. Hunched over in front of him was a massive white bear, its back exposed at it gorged on a corpse. It was only then that Alen noticed the smell. It had been lingering in the surrounding area, that sweet smell. He should’ve noticed it already, because he’d smell it from the trash cans he passed on his way home every day.

It was the sweet smell of decay. Accompanying it was a sloppy sloshing, and the sickening crunch of bones and tearing skin. He choked on the horrible sight, the smell activating his gag reflex. He stepped back and lost his balance, falling into the thick shrubbery behind him, the sound of branches snapping causing the white bear to stop and look back in his direction.

Alen made himself as small as possible, hiding inside the withered bushes and suppressing his breathing to as low as possible, staring at the bear that seemed to stare right back. It began to move towards him, exposing the horribly decayed remains of the corpse it was just eating. It sniffed at the air, and Alen found himself examining the horrifying form of the creature further. Tartar lined its decaying, ruined teeth, and a disgusting mix of saliva and blood dribbled down its chin. On its back and legs where massive bone spurs that penetrated the skin, the surrounding area bleeding slightly and spouting yellow pus.

The bear inched closer to him, the sniffing and twitching of its nose growing more frenzied. Alen could see the way its red eyes constricted as it stared at the bush it was inching towards. Right now, the bear just a a bit more than foot away from Alen’s face, it’s rancid breath blowing straight into his face.

Just before Alen gave himself away, a low guttural roar came from behind the bear, which turned back to see a group of zombies sprinting towards it. It met the charge with a roar of its own and the engagement quickly turned into a mess of flying limbs and sputtering black blood. Alen used this chance to run away, scrambling onto his feet and sprinting deeper into the dead forest. He ran for a long time, and only stopped when his lungs felt like magma was churning inside of them. Alen collapsed on a heap beside a tree and panted as cold sweat dripped down his face.

His body was sore, and his limbs had a few cuts in them, caused by the brambles that covered the dead branches of the shrubbery he fell into. It had pierced his clothing, and placed a few small cuts on his jacket and pants.

He still couldn’t properly process what had just happened. That monstrous bear the size of a large car, the crazed undead the surged forward to meet it, and the stinging cuts on his skin. He wanted to believe this wasn’t real, but not taking it seriously and gambling on his life was definitely a bad idea. He didn’t want to end up as a puddle of blood on the ground, and with the very real pain he was feeling, he didn’t want to risk getting eaten alive, dream or not.

Alen sat, still. What was he supposed to do now? He definitely needed a place to hide. He’d only noticed it now, but his surroundings were beginning to darken, and it would probably turn into the night-time equivalent of wherever the hell he was. Just as he was about to stand up, a ding interrupted his action.

The young man stared blankly at the screen in front of him.

Sam: Hello?

Adam: what the fuck? am I seeing this right?

Bernard: 8========D~~~~

Adam: shut the hell up bernard, jesus christ.

Sam: Ooooh my goodness. This guy.

Anne: That took what, 3 seconds?

Adam: oh hi anne.

The whole thing continued to ding, messages quickly flooding in from names that seemed very familiar with him. Alen was about to say something when a name he didn’t recognize suddenly sprang up.

Elissa: please help me

Bernard: Same dude.

Elissa: im bleeding… I can’t move

Anne: Whoa, wtf?

Sam: Um, what.

Gavin: Lisa? what’s happening? what the hell are these screens?

Elissa: I don’t want to die gavin…

Frank: Lmao, is this some sort of prank? Nice special effects, but I’m calling the cops. I don’t know how you fuckers roofied me, but you better get me off this goddamn jungle or I’ll have my father sue you all.

Gavin: where are you Lisa? are you okay?

Frank: I’m already onto you guys. Go on, I dare you.

Victor: some homeless guy just stole my wallet! why am i in this medieval looking town?

Gavin: Lisa! what the hell say something!!

The eerie messages continued. Alen felt a chill creep down his spine at what looked to be messages between other people. The Elissa girl had stopped sending messages. His friends had gone silent too, and soon, more people began to talk into the screen in panic and confusion. Alen counted at least 17 individuals including his friends among the people sending messages.

What the hell was happening? Is this what he thought it was?

Alen waved the screen away in a hurry as he heard groaning from farther away. He hurriedly got to his feet and hid behind the tree he was leaning on. Minutes passed without anything happening, but he did notice the occasional rustle, and the occasional groan of what he assumed to be more zombies. He grit his teeth. Staying here was only going to endanger him further. If another monster like that bear found him, he didn’t have any confidence that he would survive the encounter. Mustering his courage, Alen started walking deeper into the forest, his ears desperately trying to pick up sounds from anything that might endanger him.

He needed somewhere to hide in, get his bearings, and maybe ask the people in the message box what was happening when they finally calmed down. Memories of the books he’d read online were flashing through his head, situations like the one he was in coming by the handful.

Finally, he stopped walking as he encountered a small crevice on the ground. The earth had split apart, probably due to an earthquake, and created a hole the size of a very small room. Alen had encountered it by luck when he crossed some shrubs. His foot had suddenly sunk into the ground, and the next thing he knew, he had just finished rolling into the crevice. He’d bit his tongue on the way down and fuck did it hurt, but he felt satisfied after feeling around the walls for the general size of the hole.

It was too small for the bear to hope fitting into, and due to the surrounding area, Alen didn’t even find any of the large bugs like centipedes that’d usually make his skin crawl, nor worry about the safety of the little cave due to the dead plant life that faithfully hid it from sight.

The outside of his little cubby hole was beginning to get darker, so Alen figured it was about time he opened the chat box again. It was a struggle, however, because he couldn’t find it as an icon or something anywhere in his vision. Alen frowned. It had popped up out of nowhere the first time when Sam sent a message, but now that he’d closed it, he couldn’t even hear the incessant dinging that came out whenever someone sent a message.

He could wave away the blue screen, which already confirmed a guess he had as soon as the little blue screen popped into his vision. What if…?

“Status,” Alen said, but nothing came into view. His shoulders drooped at the absence of the little blue screen. “Menu.” Nothing.

“Start?” He frowned. Still nothing.

Alen sat there, thinking. He was almost sure that his guesses were correct. It showed up once, so why wasn’t it showing up again? He tried to recall what it was in those novels that summoned up shit like this. He imagined the form that he was trying to look at, a table, a status screen that displayed his stats, name, cla—

He blinked, and in front of him, his status screen slowly manifested into the image he had in his mind.

Status:

Name: Alen

Race: Human

Type: Forming - 13%

Health: 92%

Stamina: 83%

Mana: 0%

Strength: 8

Dexterity: 10

Agility: 7

Constitution: 9

Vitality: 9

Resistance: 8

Intelligence: 11

Wisdom: 10

Control: 13

Skills:

None

Alen grinned. This was cool, he had to admit. It didn’t show exactly how he was expecting, and he was surprised he didn’t have any skills yet. He was expecting to have gained at least a skill in sneaking or something, but it clearly wasn’t that easy. Alen waved the screen away.

Next, he was going to summon the message screen. He figured out that visualizing what he wanted to see was the essential part, and so, he was able to bring it up again. People were still messaging in a panic, most where asking questions regarding their location, what was happening, and a few described what they’d seen so far. From what Alen was able to gather, a good amount of people were sent here, to what he would assume was another world, and they were sent to separate locations. A few messages were asking for help in the same nature that Elissa girl was, but Alen chose to ignore those, for his own sake. He didn’t want to imagine the fact that death was so easy here. If he let that affect him now, he would lose the little inch of mental stability he’d managed to gain from the status screens.

This was like a game; it had a system. Yes. It was better to think that way for now.

Alen nodded to himself, customizing the message box as well. In the same way he could change his status screen’s format, he could do the same to this as well. He didn’t change much, he just made the text easier to look at. Sending messages was also a matter of visualization, as soon as the screen had appeared the first time, he instinctively knew how to send messages. He was sure that’s how it operated for the others as well. Alen really did have to thank Sam for figuring this shit out first when he finally manages to get out of this forest.

As for the customization, Alen just used the little knowledge he had in programming. Mostly just using HTML to keep things easy and simple. At least, it was that way when he didn’t have to type everything like he usually did. Being able to make the program mentally basically removed most, if not all the frustration he felt whenever he programmed. It was hard to make a mistake when it was like this. Using the mental status screen-equivalent of a hyperlink, Alen made it so that the message box appeared as a small icon below his status screen, making it much easier to access. He also made the system equivalent of a note pad to store information in when he didn’t have access to paper.

Having both these functions appear as tiny icons below his status screen made Alen feel extremely happy. Proud, even. He didn’t really consider the fact that he could just summon them straight up without having to open the status screen. Alen just considered it part of the aesthetic, and as an added plus, it’d increase the frequency of which he’d examine his status.

Very solid reasoning, Alen. An hour definitely wasn’t wasted for nothing. Aesthetic is important. Fuck practicality, He grinned at the thought and opened the note pad, setting his goals for the next day.

Notes:

1. Find some food and water.

2. Figure out how to make a fire.

3. Fix up the Cubby Hole.

4. Get out of the shitty forest.

5. Not get killed.

Alen nodded, satisfied with his results. Next, was checking inventory. Well, there wasn’t much to check, he realized, as his bag didn’t come with him. After two minutes of thoroughly checking his pockets, he had… A watch, a pencil, his phone, his earphones, a jacket, a white shirt, and his jeans and shoes, and finally, a few coins and a piece of paper half-covered with scribbles inside his old wallet.

He looked at the assortment of things in front of him and sighed. He was so fucked that it was unbelievable. His last memory was getting home after staying a night at Adam’s house with the rest of his friends, having dinner with his family, and finally going to sleep. He leaned back and stared at his phone that was eighty-three percent charged. Even this thing would only last so long. Alen wondered when the next time he could enjoy a home-cooked meal and a warm bed would come. He was already feeling somewhat pessimistic, which was understandable after nearly getting killed by a corpse eating bear and his zombie friends.

Alen plugged in his earphones and listened to some music. He was going to use this thing sparingly, but he’d let himself experience some peace for at least a few minutes tonight. He set it at power-saving mode and set it aside, the beat of punk rock serving as a distraction as he pulled up the message box.

Neil: So, where are you guys right now?

Derek: I’m just walking along some road. I’ll tell you guys when I reach a city.

Anne: Aight. I don’t really know where I am right now, I’m also following a road, but I don’t see anything beyond the horizon right now. I’ll just go find a tree to sleep in tonight I guess.

Adam: at least you’re walking along a road anne. i’m lost in some glowing forest but it’s cool as shit

Sam: I just saw a really big spider. Not like this.

Alen: Hi guys, somehow not dead here.

Anne: Is that you Alen?

Sam: Hey man.

Adam: holy shit i think i’m lagging. alen isn’t dead yet?

Alen laughed, it was good to see they hadn’t been fucked over by anything yet.

Alen: Fuck off man, zombie bears are no joke.

Anne: You alright?

Alen: Yeah. I’m hiding in a hole in the ground right now. Now all I’m waiting for is the eventual starvation and bear-inflicted mutilation.

Bernard: Dude. I just got a sword. It was stabbed into a tree by the lake I spawned in.

Adam: wait, if anne, alen, sam, and you are here, you think james and jamal got dragged into this as well?

Neil: Let’s hope that those friends of yours don’t have to put up with what we’re going through right now. And from what I’ve read, what others have finished going through.

Bernard: I just wanna go through James dude.

Adam: shut the hell up bernard holy fuck

Alen: Well, I’m going off to sleep. I’m tired as shit.

Adam: yeah, same here. i heard some howling and fuck me if i’m headed there.

Anne: Aight. G’night dude. Don’t die off somewhere.

Alen: Yeah. I probably won’t be using this messaging system for a few days. I have to figure out how to get out of this place without being slaughtered.

A faint ray of moonlight shone down through the entrance of Alen’s cubby hole. He looked at it for a long moment before turning off his phone, the music he’d lived most of his life with disappearing and being replaced by the oppressive silence of the dead forest outside. Alen placed his phone in a corner, along with the rest of his measly belongings with the exception of the watch, which he kept on.

Alen covered his face with his hands and let out a long breath. Tomorrow, he was going to start figuring shit out. Maybe figure out magic. He’d be damned if magic didn’t exist here.

He laid down and closed his eyes.

Fuck everything else, magic builds were the master race.